The Nation - News from Aug. 7, 1989

“Everything’s marching right along,” said a spokeswoman as NASA managers formally cleared the shuttle Columbia for blastoff Tuesday, weather permitting, on a blacked-out military flight to reportedly put a spy satellite in orbit. NASA’s mission management team met to review the status of launch processing and to make sure nothing has been overlooked in readying the veteran spaceplane for its first flight since the Challenger disaster 3 1/2 years ago. Columbia and its five-man crew were cleared to take off sometime between 4:30 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. Tuesday.